Basic Science and Instrumentation Scientific Session 3
Quantitative Ultrasound Assessment of LI-RADS 5 Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Background Liver: A Pilot Study
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
4:54pm – 5:06pm
Location: 412
Authors: Yuko kono, University of California, San Diego Aiguo Han, Virginia Tech Jingyi Zuo, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Haotian Chen, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Adam Burgoyne, UC San Diego kathryn fowler, University of California San Diego Mathew Wallig, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign William D. O'Brien, Jr., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Michael Andre, University of California, San Diego ,
This prospective pilot study examines feasibility of ultrasound (US) imaging methods to evaluate patients with known HCC prior to and after treatment with transarterial radioembolization. Contrast-free quantitative backscatter US, contrast-enhanced US and US-guided attenuation parameter were performed in the tumor and surrounding background liver, using contrast-enhanced (CE) MRI as reference. In 12 patients enrolled to date, all imaging methods were successfully performed, all were CE MRI LI-RADS 5 with tumor diameters ranging 2.1-13.8 cm. Steatosis in background liver was uniformly low with UGAP 0.57-0.66 (corresponding to steatosis grade 0-1) and PDFF 1.9-5.0%. QUS attenuation and backscatter coefficients of background liver were very low but consistent between acquisitions and patients. Tumor tissue was more heterogeneous but QUS contrast compared to background was high and all tumor boundaries were identified. CEUS corresponded well with CE MRI to identify tumors, demarcate tumor size and boundaries, as well as identify response to therapy at 6- and 12-weeks post treatment. A long-term goal is to determine if US methods may detect treatment response as well as or earlier than CE MRI.
